


Jasper's Home for Wayward SHIELD Agents

by orderlychaos



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: CATW spoilers, Fake Character Death, First Kiss, Get Together, Hydra, Jasper lives, M/M, cameo by Phil Coulson, cameo by Trip, post CATW, references to injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 17:57:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3578664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orderlychaos/pseuds/orderlychaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Jasper Sitwell woke up on Monday morning to a dead man in his living room.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He probably shouldn't have been surprised.</em>
</p>
<p>After the emergence of HYDRA and the fall of SHIELD, Jasper Sitwell is just trying to piece his life back together.  Except life is rarely that easy for a SHIELD agent.  When Nick Fury turns up on Jasper's couch, he finds his life suddenly invaded by lost and hungry SHIELD agents, and all those inconvenient romantic feelings he has for his boss.</p>
<p>Only, Nick Fury isn't his boss anymore.  And maybe Jasper's feelings aren't as unrequited as he thought...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jasper's Home for Wayward SHIELD Agents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fiendfyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiendfyre/gifts).



> For Fiendfyre, who helped put this idea in my brain :)

Jasper Sitwell woke up on Monday morning to a dead man in his living room.

He probably shouldn’t have been surprised.

During his career as a SHIELD agent, Jasper had woken up to far stranger things.  Normally, he’d have taken it in stride, but, well, this dead guy was different.  This wasn’t one of Jasper’s closest friends going up against a psychotic alien and then being brought back because Nick Fury had moved heaven and earth.  This was infinitely worse, because Jasper had been harbouring non-platonic feelings for a very long time, and finding the object of his crush sitting in his couch when he was supposed to be dead was a bit of a mindfuck.

(Technically Jasper Sitwell was dead too, so maybe Jasper shouldn’t be pointing fingers.)

Even so, Jasper didn’t think anyone should blame him for the first words out of his mouth.  “You fucking _bastard_ ,” he growled.  Nick Fury was the Director of SHIELD.  He didn’t owe Jasper an explanation, even if it had been six weeks since his apparent demise.  Jasper shouldn’t be so angry, but anger was better than the raw, gaping pain underneath.  It might have been unfair to think that way, but everything in his life had been torn away, and Jasper was still bitter about that.

Fury slowly levered himself off the couch.  He at least had the decency to look sheepish, but underneath that, he looked like shit.  Gone was the characteristic trench coat and eye-patch.  Instead, Fury wore faded jeans and a hoodie under a battered leather jacket.  Dark sunglasses covered his eyes, but they couldn’t entirely hide the fading bruise on his cheek.  Or the exhaustion hunching his shoulders.  Despite everything, a traitorous part of Jasper’s brain noted how good the jeans looked on Fury, before he ruthlessly squashed it down.

“You don’t check your messages anymore, Jasper,” Fury said.

Jasper _knew_ Fury was referring to the dummy email accounts and phone numbers he had set up all over the world.  The same ones Jasper had stopped checking after the fall of SHIELD.  But that didn’t stop the anger burning in his stomach.  “Sorry, Boss,” he said, not bothering to hide the hard edge to his words.  “I’m on vacation.  I think that’s the least you owe me after everything, don’t you?”

Fury flinched.  The movement was small, but noticeable.  Guilt immediately stabbed through Jasper’s chest.  While Fury might have sent Jasper undercover to figure out what was going on inside SHIELD, no one had suspected it would be fucking _HYDRA_.  Or that the whole tangled web would lead to the fall of SHIELD.  There had been no question of refusing when Fury had asked.  Jasper admired, respected and was half in love with Nick Fury.  When Nick had asked, there had been no other answer.  By the time they’d figured out what was going on, it was too late to pull out.  Fury had still offered, though.  It had been Jasper who’d refused, so really, the blame was on him.

“It’s Nick,” Fury said quietly.  “I’m no one’s boss anymore.  Least of all yours.”

Jasper frowned, still angry at the world for burning his life down around him.  “And why’s that?” he asked flatly.

Fury stared at Jasper for a long, silent moment.  Irrationally, Jasper wished for Fury’s more familiar eye-patch.  Fury rarely gave anything away in his expression, but it would have been comforting to look into that dark, intent gaze without the sunglasses.  “For asking you to do what I did,” Fury replied.  “For not seeing what was coming.  For not trying harder to tell you I wasn’t dead…”

“You know that’s mostly bullshit, right?” Jasper cut in sharply.  “Despite what you want people to think, you’re not actually omnipotent.  And you didn’t _ask_ me to spy on HYDRA for you.  I _volunteered_.”  The dull, aching throb underneath Jasper’s ribs flared up again.  SHIELD had been his life for so long.  Yet, no matter how much Jasper was grieving, Fury would be hurting worse.

In Jasper’s eyes, Nick Fury would never be any lesser, but in that moment, Nick looked almost hollowed out.  The command that had caught the loyalty and admiration of so many agents was gone, buried under pain and exhaustion.  Jasper let out a breath, and some of his anger went with it.  “I’m going to make some coffee,” he said.  “Want one?”

“Thanks,” Fury replied.

Fury followed Jasper’s slow, limping path to the kitchen.  Like the rest of Jasper’s new house, the room was large, with big windows that let in the sunlight and a view of the backyard.  The walls were painted a cheery yellow, and a large oak dining table took up most of the space by the windows.  The kitchen was probably Jasper’s favourite room in the whole place.  He’d spent hours happily pottering around, perfecting some of the recipes his _abuela_ had taught him.  Glancing at Fury, Jasper went straight for the shiny chrome coffee maker and flipped it on.

“How’s life treating Maxwell Hernandez?” Fury asked, breaking the quiet.

Jasper’s lips twitched at the mention of his new identity.  Coulson had always had a warped sense of humour, and it was thanks to the new Director that Jasper had a comfortable house to recuperate in.  Phil had also told him Fury was alive, so Jasper should probably let Fury off the hook.  It might have been petty and selfish, but Jasper wasn’t quite ready to do that yet.  “Well, I said hello to my neighbours last week and no one shot at me, which was novel and fun,” Jasper said dryly.  When Fury’s shoulders only tensed further, Jasper sighed and rolled his eyes.  “I’m healing.”  He shrugged.  “It’s slow and frustrating and I’ve still got a damn limp, but I don’t need the cane most days anymore.  I was even thinking about trying out jogging in about a month.”

It had been six weeks since everything had gone to hell at SHIELD and Jasper wasn’t lying.  He _was_ healing slowly, both inside and out.  Jasper had already thanked his lucky guardian angel for surviving at all, and he tried to remind himself of that every time he got impatient.  Most people who went up against the Winter Soldier ended up very dead.  Even Natasha Romanoff had ended up with a bullet wound.  Part of Jasper knew he was lucky to survive, but that was more luck than anything.  Jasper hadn’t been the Soldier’s mission.  He’d just been collateral.  Of course, that hadn’t made his broken leg, cracked ribs and dislocated shoulder heal any faster.  He was kind of pissed he’d missed the Helicarriers exploding, though.

With a wince, Jasper reached up and pulled two mugs from the cupboard, as well as his favourite silver teapot.  “While we’re on the subject,” he said, his back still towards Fury.  “If you see Captain Rogers, could you explain to him and his insane winged friend that I’m not actually HYDRA?”  He carried both mugs over to the table, before going back for the sugar bowl.  “And if you could keep the Black Widow from murdering me too, that would be great.”

“They already know,” Fury told him, still standing just inside the door.  If it was anyone else, Jasper would have said he was hovering.  “Natasha wants to apologize for kicking you off that building.”

Jasper shot him an arched eyebrow over his shoulder as the coffee maker buzzed.  It still felt surreal and a little too close to one of his fantasies to have Nick Fury standing in his cheery kitchen.  Jasper busied himself by pouring the coffee into the pot because his _abuela_ hadn’t raised a barbarian.  “She could have done a lot worse,” he said as he brought the coffee pot over to the table.  “Besides, if I’d actually been HYDRA, I would have deserved it.”  He limped over to the fridge.  “Milk or cream?”

“No, thank you,” Fury replied.

Jasper shrugged and headed back to the table, slipping gratefully into a chair.  His knee and hip still ached horribly every morning.  When Fury just silently took the chair opposite him, Jasper frowned.  “You know,” he said, pouring them both a mug of coffee.  “I don’t like this new thing you’re doing with the hesitance and the silence.  It doesn’t suit you.”

A hint of a smile curved Fury’s mouth, but it wasn’t amused.  “I’ve recently become all too aware of my failings.  And my arrogance.  I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.”

Jasper added sugar to his coffee until it was sweet enough that even his _abuela_ would drink it.  Taking a sip, he studied Fury over the rim of his mug.  “Just don’t forget that those mistakes don’t define you,” Jasper said quietly.  “The way Phil tells it, you were a tough bastard before you ever heard of SHIELD.  Don’t let HYDRA make you forget that.”

Fury swallowed, sipping his own coffee.  “Thank you, Jasper,” he said softly.

Jasper smiled slightly.  “Don’t thank me yet,” he warned.  “I’m about to cook some breakfast, and if you want to eat any, you’re going to help me.  So jacket off and go and wash your hands.  You’re about to learn how to make _tamales_ and _baleadas_.”

Fury’s face softened and his shoulders eased.  “I can do that,” he agreed.

“Good.”  Jasper rose to his feet and sent Fury a pointed look.  “You’d better hurry up and get those hands washed then.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Fury muttered with a smile.

~*~

The next time Nick Fury showed up at Jasper’s house, he was bleeding from the shoulder.

Jasper squinted at him blearily, because it was four am, and put his gun back in the hiding place by the front door.  Nick looked awful.  Blood was sluggishly trickling from his shoulder, and the parts of his face that were visible were dark with bruises.  Sighing, Jasper stepped back and opened the door wider so Nick could come inside.  He arched an eyebrow when he spotted Clint Barton standing just behind Nick.  Clint also looked like someone (or several someones) had beaten the crap out of him.  He gave Jasper a small wave.

Jasper frowned, and Clint’s smile dimmed a little.  Rolling his eyes, Jasper waved his hand.  “Get your asses inside before my neighbours see the bleeding people on my doorstep,” he grumbled.

After Nick and Clint slipped quietly inside, Jasper shut the door and re-secured the alarm.  “Bathroom’s down the hall on the left,” he told them as he turned.  “First aid kit should be under the sink.”

“Thanks, Jasper,” Clint said.  The archer shifted from booted foot to foot, as if he wanted to hug Jasper, or maybe clap him on the shoulder.  Considering the dirty field bandage on his arm and the way Clint was holding himself still, Jasper didn’t think hugging was a good idea.  No matter how welcome it would be, or how adorably awkward Clint looked.  “I’m glad you’re not dead,” Clint added.

“Me too,” Jasper agreed.  “About you.” He made a face.  “I need coffee.”  His recent issues with insomnia were not helping him sound coherent.  Particularly combined with the distracting way Nick was watching him.

“I’d forgotten how grumpy you were in the mornings,” Clint said with a grin.

“Shut up, Hawk,” Jasper muttered and headed for the kitchen.  At least his limp was getting better.

Setting the coffee percolating, Jasper grabbed as many old towels as he could find and headed back to the bathroom.  When he pushed open the door, he found Nick and Clint glaring at each other in silent argument.  Jasper had no idea what it was about, but it was his house, so he didn't have to deal with it.  “Nick, sit down,” he snapped.  Rolling his eyes, he tossed Clint one of the towels.  “Hawk, you’re bleeding on my floor.”

Clint automatically caught the towel, but then just sort of blinked at Jasper.  “ _Nick_?” he echoed incredulously.

Jasper shrugged and refused to blush.  “He said he wasn’t my boss anymore, and he doesn’t come with a circus nickname like you do,” he shot back.  “Now will you take some weight off that leg before you fall over?”

Clint blinked a few more times, before sitting down on the edge of the bath.  Snapping on a pair of gloves, Jasper set about patching them up.  Clint had bruised ribs, a nasty cut along his thigh and a bullet graze on his bicep.  With a bit of rest and some antibiotics, he’d be fine.  Jasper cleaned and stitched as neatly as he could, ignoring Clint’s fidgeting the whole time.  “There,” Jasper said finally, leaning back a little.  “All patched up.  There’s coffee in the kitchen.  If you drink straight out of the pot, I will end you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Clint grumbled, but he was smiling and some of the tension had left his shoulders.  He hesitated at the door, gingerly pulling on his shirt.  “I’m really glad you’re not dead, Jas.”

Jasper swallowed, busying himself in tidying the first aid kit so he didn’t have to say anything around the lump in his throat.  He’d always believed his friends would miss him, but it was still different to hear it out loud.  Clearing his throat, Jasper looked up only to find Nick watching him apologetically.  At least, Jasper thought it was apologetically.  It was hard to tell with the sunglasses.  Shifting on the closed toilet lid where he was perched, Nick peeled the jacket away from his shoulder. “I think you’re going to have to cut my t-shirt off,” he said quietly.

Jasper cleared his throat.  “Right,” he agreed.

Jasper carefully helped Nick strip out of the battered leather.  Underneath, Nick wore a dark hoodie, the fabric a little torn and frayed at the cuffs.  It clung to Nick’s broad shoulders, but hung loose in other places, no doubt hiding a dozen weapons.  The shoulder was dark with blood, but there didn’t seem to be too much of it, which Jasper took as a promising sign.  Jasper eased it off Nick’s shoulder, but when he pulled a little too hard on the sleeve, Nick muttered a sharp curse under his breath.  The drying blood had stuck the fabric to Nick’s skin.  “Sorry,” Jasper whispered.

“It’s fine,” Nick replied, but his voice was tight.

Now down to a black t-shirt, Jasper could see the various bulges of the knives Nick was wearing.  He could also see how lean Nick had gotten.  The last few weeks had not been kind, and even Jasper’s cooking could only do so much.  The blood on the t-shirt was still a little shiny, and the material clung to Nick’s shoulder when he tried to move his arm.  Jasper huffed.  “Let me, will you?” he said.

Nick raised his eyebrow.  Wordlessly, he pulled out a black-bladed combat knife from his lower back and handed it hilt first to Jasper.

“Thanks,” Jasper said, taking it.  Carefully, he cut the cotton away, widening the hole in the t-shirt caused by the bullet.  Beneath, the wound was still slowly weeping blood, but it didn’t look worse than a deep gash.  Jasper let out a relieved breath, grateful he wasn’t going to have to dig a bullet out.  Or that the wound wasn’t more serious than his skills could deal with.  “You know, you should really have gone to someone with more than just field medical training for this.”

Nick grimaced.  “I don’t trust any of the doctors I know.  Not anymore.”

Jasper swallowed heavily at the implication.  “But you trust me?” he asked, needing to hear the words out loud.

Nick stilled under his hands.  “Of course I trust you, Jasper,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, sorry,” Jasper muttered.  If Nick hadn’t trusted Jasper, he wouldn’t be here.  “The whole thing with HYDRA has been a bit of mindfuck.”

Nick let out a long sigh.  “Yeah,” he agreed.  “I still can’t believe we didn’t see it.  That we had psychotic Nazi’s around us and we didn’t notice.”

Jasper snorted and gave Nick a sardonic smile.  “Well, they’ve been planning this since the Second World War, so they’ve had time to learn how to exist under the radar.  To appear to be something they weren’t.”  Over the last six weeks, Jasper had had a long time to think about this.  “Besides, the HYDRA sleeper agents didn’t come with labels.  There was no way to know they were more than just entitled assholes.”

“You did.”  Nick’s low words had Jasper looking up.  Nick had slipped off his sunglasses and Jasper was caught by that intent gaze.  Without the sunglasses, Nick’s scars were visible, as was the pale blue colour of his left eye.  “I should have done something more with what you told me, Jasper.  Acted sooner, instead of waiting to see how deep it went.”

“You couldn’t have known what they were planning to do with Project Insight,” Jasper said.

Nick glanced away for a moment.  “Maybe one day I’ll believe that,” he said wryly as his eyes flicked back to Jasper’s.

“You and me both,” Jasper whispered.

When Jasper handed the knife back, Nick made it disappear again.  Jasper couldn’t help but smile a little.  He had a sudden mental image of Nick walking into meetings with the WSC wearing enough weapons for a small army underneath his leather trenchcoat.

“Do I want to know?” Nick asked quietly.

Jasper shrugged.  “Just appreciating how badass you are,” he said.

Glancing away, he couldn’t look Nick in the face as he ignored his own awkward attempts at flirting.  Now was so not the time or place.  Jasper wasn’t sure they’d ever be a time or place where he had the guts to blatantly flirt with Nick Fury.  If it did ever happen, Jasper kind of hoped he was wearing something other than pajama bottoms with rubber ducks on them.

Gently, Jasper started cleaning the wound.  He winced in sympathy as Nick jerked a little under his hands.  It was an instinctive attempt to get away from the source of pain, and Jasper didn’t blame Nick in the slightest.  Paradoxically, a burst of warmth curled through Jasper’s chest, because Nick rarely allowed himself to show that kind of weakness.  “I’m afraid this is going to need stitches,” Jasper said.

Nick nodded.  He smelled faintly of cigarettes and spicy aftershave.  Standing this close, Jasper could feel the heat radiating off him.  Part of Jasper wanted to curl closer, but now wasn’t the greatest time to be noting just how attractive Nick was.  Clearing his throat sharply, Jasper leaned back.  Nick was hurt.  Even still half in his t-shirt, Jasper could see the dark shadows of bruises covering his chest, interspersed between the old scars and Nick’s greying chest hair.  Which Jasper was also _not noticing_.  He needed to concentrate on patching Nick up, and not anything else.  When he’d been stitching up Clint’s thigh, his hands had been inches from Clint’s groin, and Jasper hadn’t batted an eye.  Yet, this close to Nick’s half-naked chest and it was all Jasper could do to stop from blushing.  He had such a hopeless urge to lean forward and press a kiss to Nick’s skin, to see if he was as warm as he looked.

“So,” Jasper said in an attempt to distract himself as he threaded a surgical needle.  “Why does someone want an already dead man dead?”

Nick arched an eyebrow, the hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.  “I don’t actually think they knew who I was,” he said before his smile faded.  “We were rescuing several undercover agents who hadn’t been able to get out of Dhaka because of HYDRA.  Agent May was sending transport to get us out, but Clint and I got cut off.  I told the others to leave without us, and we made our own way out.”

Jasper nodded, concentrating on keeping his stitches small and neat.  “And your shoulder?”

“One of the HYDRA thugs had the draw on me.  Clint pushed me out of the way,” Nick answered.

Jasper smiled.  “He’s good at that.”

“He is,” Nick agreed.

Glancing up, Jasper suddenly noticed how close they were.  It wouldn’t take much for Jasper to lean forward and press his lips to Nick’s.  Ducking his head, Jasper tied off the stitches and taped on a piece of gaze.  He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize his new role as one of Nick’s confidants, particularly with his one-sided feelings.  “There, done,” he said.

Packing up the first aid kit as quickly as he could, Jasper escaped from the bathroom and headed for the kitchen.  He found Clint slumped over the table, glaring morosely at the wall.  Clint looked less haggard in the softer light of the kitchen, but he still didn’t look like his former self.  Considering the shitstorm that had been the last two years, Jasper didn’t blame him.  “You okay, Hawk?” Jasper asked, walking over to pull down the big silver tea pot and three mugs.  On the way, he flipped off the light on the coffee machine.

Clint shook himself out of whatever daze he was in.  “I just miss him,” he admitted softly.

Jasper didn’t need to be told which ‘him’ that was.  Clint and Coulson had always been weirdly locked in some sort of orbit.  It was still strange to see one of them without the other nearby.  “So go see him,” he told Clint.

Clint glanced away.  “It’s not that simple.”

“No, it’s not,” Jasper agreed.  “The things that are worth the most rarely are.”  He smiled and quirked an eyebrow.  “But I can tell you that Coulson interrogated me for over an hour about you and whether you’re eating your vegetables.”

“He did?” Clint’s entire face brightened, his shoulders uncurling from his slump.

“I’ve been telling him the same thing for days,” Nick said dryly.  Jasper turned to the door to find Nick leaning slightly against the frame.  Nick had left his sunglasses in the bathroom, but Jasper was more distracted by the glimpses of naked chest.  Nick had pulled on his hoodie, but it was only zipped up halfway.  Without a shirt underneath, Jasper could see inches of warm dark skin and a curl of chest hair.

“Jasper?”

Jasper blinked, his face flooding with heat as he realized both Clint and Nick were watching him with amusement.  Jasper cleared his throat.  “Sorry.  What did you say?”

Nick looked like he was fighting a smile.  “Just that I’ve been telling Hawkeye hear the same thing for days, but he didn’t believe me,” he said.  “And yet he believes you straight away.”

Clint scowled, but it was playful.  “Hey, if two people tell me exactly the same thing it’s more likely to be true!”

Nick rolled his eyes.  “You’re not evaluating intel, Hawk,” he replied.  “You’re listening to two friends tell you to stop being an idiot.”

Clint sat back and folded his arms over his chest, glaring at Nick.  Nick stared back.  Jasper snorted at both of them and went to pour the coffee.  As full of landmines as the idea was, there were times when Clint treated Nick exactly like the older brother he’d never had.  It had always weirded the junior agents out, but Jasper thought it was cute.  Not that Jasper would ever say that out loud.

He put the teapot down on the table, jolting Nick and Clint put of their stare-off.  “Okay,” he said.  “Here’s the house rules:  I have one spare room and I don’t care who uses it.  Or how many times you come by, but no bleeding on the sheets unless I’ve seen the wounds first.  No hiding that shit.  Also, if you want breakfast, you help me cook it.  I am not your house elf.”

Clint nodded solemnly.  “Done,” he agreed.

Nick slumped down into a chair with a sigh.  “I nominate Hawk to scramble the eggs.  I’m not doing that again.”

Jasper smiled.  “Apparently cooking is not one of Nick Fury’s skills,” he told Clint.

“Hey, I can cook!” Nick grumbled.  “I just can’t make eggs to Jasper’s standards.”

Clint chuckled.  “No one can make food to Jasper’s standards,” he said.  “I once heard him rant on and off for two days about the declining quality of diner pancakes.”

Jasper arched an eyebrow pointedly.  “If you don’t want me to feed you…” he began.

“Now we didn’t say that,” Nick cut in hurriedly.

Jasper sat back in his chair and grinned.

~*~

That set the tone from then on.  Nick would show up when he needed rest or medical assistance, and Jasper would patch him up and then feed him.  Sometimes Nick had company, sometimes he didn’t.  Jasper got used to seeing Clint and Sharon Carter turning up on his doorstep.  They usually looked like they’d gone ten rounds with someone a lot bigger than they were.  Jasper patiently patched everyone up and fed them, feeling more and more like a house mother as the weeks went on.

The first time Natasha Romanoff had turned up, Jasper had quietly had a heart attack right on his very own doorstep.  Then he’d told himself that if she’d wanted to harm him, he wouldn’t see her coming and let her in.  She paused in Jasper’s small hallway and eyed him with that sharp green gaze.  She didn’t look her normally composed self, but she didn’t look as bad as Clint had the last time Jasper had seen him.  “I’m sorry, Jasper,” she said softly.

“For what?” Jasper had asked, the remaining adrenaline and fear making him a bit stupid.

“For kicking you off that roof,” she replied.  “For believing you could be HYDRA in the first place.  For making you scared of me.”

Jasper shrugged.  “To be completely honest, I’ve always been a little bit terrified.  I mean, you are the Black Widow.”

To Jaspers surprise, Natasha smiled and leaned in to press a kiss to Jasper’s cheek.  “You don’t have to be, you know,” she whispered.  “You’re my friend.  And I’m trying not to let my past control me anymore.  Or dictate who I am.”  She paused, and Jasper could see the way she was shaking faintly.  “I don’t want to be someone who can’t trust people.”

Because she looked like she needed it, Jasper slowly and carefully pulled her into a hug.  He gave her plenty of time to pull away, but she didn’t.  Instead, she curled closer.  “Well, I’ll help, okay?” he said.  “As much as I can.”  It wouldn’t always be easy, but it wasn’t exactly like Jasper had gone out of his way to befriend her back at SHIELD either.  “Besides, you always trusted Hawkbrain, so it can’t all be bad.”

Natasha snorted, and squeezed him tightly before she let go.  “And now I’ve got you too,” she said.

Jasper smiled.  “You do,” he agreed.  “Want some coffee?”

He turned and headed for the kitchen.  The SHIELD agent in him twitched at having the Black Widow at his back, but trust went both ways.

“Do you have any tea?” Natasha asked as she followed.

Jasper hid a smile.  “I have many types of tea,” he replied.  

Walking over to the counter beside the coffee maker, Jasper pointed to the various boxes of organic teas he kept there.  He had enough even to please Natasha, or so he hoped.  Leaving her to her selection, Jasper put on the kettle on the stove and pulled out his big fry pan.  “How do you take your eggs?” he asked.

“I thought house rules stated everyone helped you cook?” Nick’s voice rumbled in reply.

Jasper turned to see Nick walking into the kitchen, rubbing a hand over his face.  He still wore the sweat pants he now kept at Jasper’s, and his white t-shirt pulled tight across his shoulders.  He looked good.  Jasper willed himself not to blush.  It wasn’t like Natasha could tell Nick had slept in Jasper’s bed last night because Maria Hill and Sharon Carter were taking up Jasper’s spare room.  Or that Jasper had woken up curled into Nick’s solid warmth and Nick hadn’t objected enough to push him away.  Jasper cleared his throat.  “Natasha is going to help me with the pancakes,” he told Nick.

“Be careful,” Nick warned Natasha, both uncovered eyes crinkling at the corners.  “Jasper has Opinions about pancakes.”

Natasha smiled and sauntered over to join Nick, her mug of tea cradled between her hands.  “I’ll remember that,” she said.  “Hello, Nick.”

Jasper left them to their hushed greetings, and started cracking eggs in a bowl.  Natasha and Nick had always been close, their relationship more father-daughter than Nick’s relationship with Clint.  Jasper’s stomach twisted all the same, because Natasha Romanoff was a beautiful woman.  If anyone could capture Nick Fury’s attention in a romantic sense, it would be her.

Nick walked over to lean against the counter near where Jasper was scrambling the eggs.  “Are you okay?” Nick asked softly.

Jasper looked up in surprise.  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Nick watched him for a moment.  “No particular reason,” he replied.

Jasper raised a skeptical eyebrow.  “You’re using your spy skills to evaluate me right now, aren’t you?” he said.

“I can’t exactly turn them off,” Nick said wryly.  “Which has led to the destruction of more than one relationship.”

Blinking, Jasper stared up at Nick.  He had no idea what to say to that.  Was Nick just sharing things with a friend, or was he implying he and Jasper were in a relationship?

Nick smirked at him.  “Is the coffee ready yet?”

“Ah, yeah,” Jasper stuttered.  “The machine should be done.”

Pushing away from the counter, Nick headed over to grab a cup of coffee.  A few minutes later, both Maria and Sharon appeared, deep in some sort of debate.  Jasper sighed, and started cracking more eggs.  He could deal with his increasingly confusing emotions after breakfast.

Nick brushed past behind him, the imprint of Nick’s hand burning through Jasper’s t-shirt at the small of his back.  Nick set down a cup of coffee beside Jasper on the counter, his own clutched in his hand.  “Shall I rally the troops?” he asked.

“Sure,” Jasper said.  “Breakfast isn’t going to cook itself.”

~*~

Maria and Sharon left later that day, Natasha disappearing with them.  Strangely, Nick stayed behind.  He’d expected Nick to leave anyway, off to do whatever he did when he wasn’t darkening Jasper’s doorstep.  The fact he hadn’t might have been because Maria was taking Sharon and Natasha out of a manicure.  Jasper wasn’t clear on the details.  

Deciding he was hardly going to understand the intricacies of Nick Fury’s brain in one morning, Jasper went about his day as usual.  He replenished the first aid kit yet again, wondering if it wouldn’t be better just to buy everything in bulk.  He also changed the sheets in his spare room and did a load of laundry, ready for the next wave of unannounced visitors.  As he did, he found one of Clint’s missing socks and a t-shirt he wasn’t sure belonged to anyone.  Jasper shook his head.  “I’m running a halfway house for lost spies,” he muttered.  “How did this become my life?”

If Jasper was being brutally honest with himself, he didn’t actually mind all the surprise visits.  They were dangerous, but they also helped him feel useful.  Like everything he’d dedicated his life to was still worth it.  That whatever this new SHIELD was, it was still worth it too.

Sighing, Jasper hobbled back towards the lounge room.  His leg was hurting a bit again, so he should probably spend the afternoon reading on the couch.  No matter what that meant for his muscle tone.  Jasper was not looking forward to all the work it would take to get him fighting fit again.

“Those don’t look like happy thoughts,” Nick broke in quietly.

Jasper blinked, turning towards where Nick was stretched out on the couch with a StarkPad.  “Just contemplating my future,” Jasper admitted.  If anyone knew what it was like to be adrift in a new life, it was Nick.

Nick nodded.  “It’s not easy,” he agreed.  “Figuring out what to do.”

Jasper limped over to the chair next to Nick’s couch, but was surprised when Nick shifted and waved to the couch itself.  Jasper kind of needed the human contact, so he gratefully sat down next to Nick.  Sinking into the cushions, he took a moment to revel in the warmth of Nick’s thigh and shoulder pressed against his.

“You know you don’t have to have anything more to do with SHIELD.  Not if you don’t want to,” Nick said.  “Maxwell Hernandez could be anyone you want him to be.”

Jasper shifted so that Nick would get the full force of his glare.  He hoped his expression would be enough to convey just how stupid Jasper thought that suggestion was.  With a sudden flash of insight, Jasper suddenly worked out why Phil and Nick had been best friends for so long.  They were exactly the same kind of asshole: stubborn and used to giving up what they wanted for the greater good.  “You’d really do that, wouldn’t you?” Jasper said finally.  Now that he was looking, he could see the answer written all over Nick’s face.  “You’d let me walk away to fulfill my dream as a chef or whatever, no matter how much you don’t want me to go.”

“Jasper…” Nick began.

“Nope,” Jasper cut in.  “You would have watched me walk away.”  And okay, oops, that sounded a little more angry than Jasper had intended.

Nick glanced away, which was a screaming confession all on its own.  Nick Fury looked you right in the eye, even when he sent you on a mission that was almost probably going to end with you dead.  “I know you’re into saving the world and all, but can you _please_ stop being so damn self-sacrificing?” Jasper snapped.

Nick glanced back, but Jasper was on a roll now.  The floodgates had been opened and all his emotions were pouring out.  “I listen to the rumours.  I never shared them around like some agents, but I’d listen.  I know you used to live for your work.  That people didn’t even think you left your office to sleep.  And I get that being the Director of an international intelligence agency is a big responsibility,” Jasper said.  If his leg hadn’t been sore, he would have got up to pace.  “But when was the last time you went on an actual date, let alone had a relationship?  And I know you actually have those, because I remember what you were like before you were Director.”  Jasper let out a breath, his frustrated anger suddenly leaving him.  “You deserve more, Nick.”

“I did try, you know,” Nick said softly.  “I tried dating a few people outside SHIELD, and I even said yes to a few agents, but…  Being Director is worse than being a field agent.  I worked long hours and was called in for ever large crisis SHIELD had.  I couldn’t share any of that with Ororo, or Abigail, because they didn’t have security clearance.  And it’s hard to date someone who’s technically in your chain of command.” Nick made a wry face.  “Not to mention constantly being on guard for the people who wanted to sleep with me because I was Director and it might be good for their careers.”  He shrugged.  “I wasn’t exactly celibate or pining the whole time, you know.”

Jasper grinned and shook his head.  “Yeah, you’re not exactly the pining type,” he agreed.  Then he arched a pointed eyebrow, his smile fading.  “You’re not Director of SHIELD anymore.”

“No, I’m not,” Nick said.  “I’m also starting to see things I should have noticed a long time ago.”

Ice shot through Jasper’s stomach, before he swallowed the sensation down.  It had always been inevitable that Nick would notice his feelings.  Nick was one of the most observant people Jasper had ever met.  Refusing to deny his feelings, Jasper lifted his chin and waited for the let down.  Nick would be kind, and he’d never use Jasper’s emotions against him, but that wouldn’t stop it from hurting.

“Hey, Jasper, no,” Nick said.  “That’s not what I meant.”

“But you noticed,” Jasper replied levelly.

Nick nodded, something bright flashing through his gaze that Jasper couldn’t read.  “Only recently,” he said.  “And only because I was looking.”  He searched Jasper’s face for a moment, and smiled.  “I always noticed you, you know.  I spent a long time using my job and the threats to the world as excuses, but I always noticed you.”

Jasper blinked.  He had no idea what to make of that.  Particularly considering few people noticed him when Melinda May or Bobbi Morse were in the same room.

“I know our lives are hardly the safest right now, but would you let me take you out to dinner, Jasper?” Nick asked.

“Like on a date?” Jasper blurted, because he had to be dreaming right?  Nick Fury had _not_ just asked him out.

Nick smiled.  “Very much like a date,” he agreed.

That smile should be classified as a lethal weapon.  Jasper opened and shut his mouth, before nodding mutely.  If Nick wanted him to answer questions like that in actual words, he shouldn’t smile like that.

Chuckling softly, Nick pulled Jasper forwards.  Still in shock that he was going out on a date with _Nick Fury_ , Jasper let himself be pulled.  Nick had settled back against the corner of the couch, Jasper sprawled out across his chest.  Nick’s heart beat was steady and reassuring in his ear.  “Let me know when you have something to say,” Nick rumbled, amusement clear in his voice.

“You’re an _asshole_ ,” Jasper breathed.  Holy shit, he was in love with an asshole.  “Of course you are.  Why am I surprises at this?”  The rant possibly lost a little of its impact with the way Jasper was speaking most of it into Nick’s shirt.  Nick’s strong arm was around his waist, and he was warm, so he wasn’t moving.  “Laugh it up, Nick.  You won’t be nearly so amused when I make you buy me the most expensive meal I can find.”

Nick’s arm tightened around Jasper.  “I will take you anywhere you want to go,” he said.

Jasper pushed up a little to look Nick in the eyes.  “This isn’t going to be a compensation thing, either,” he said firmly.  “You will not buy me expensive food in exchange for whatever flaws you believe you have.  I will not be bought.  You’re either in this to see how far it goes, or you’re not.”

Nick’s face softened, and he reached out with his free hand to cup Jasper’s neck and jaw.  Jasper shivered a little at the slide of Nick’s callouses against his skin.  “I promise I’m going to give this every chance I can,” Nick said.

“Okay, then,” Jasper agreed.

~*~

Jasper woke up from his nap about an hour later to a loud knock on his door.  Grumbling, he climbed off the couch and grabbed his gun.  He had to leave his comfortable spot curled mostly on top of Nick, too, and that made him cranky.  When Jasper opened the door to find Phil Coulson, the new Director of SHIELD himself, on his front step, Jasper almost slammed it in Phil’s face.  “No,” he said.  “I’m supposed to be lying low and healing.  Not feeding every damn lost SHIELD agent that comes by.”

Phil shot him a lopsided smile.  “I missed you too, Jasper,” he said.

“Don’t get cute with me, Phil,” Jasper warned.

“If it helps, I didn’t actually come by for food?” Phil offered.

Jasper blew out a sigh.  “You want to talk to Nick,” he said flatly.

Phil raised an eyebrow at the use of Nick’s first name, but nodded.  “Can I come in?” he asked.

“Sure,” Jasper said.  It wasn’t exactly as if he could give a different answer.  “He’s in the lounge.”

He stepped back and held the door open, noticing for the first time exactly who was standing behind Phil.  Warily, Jasper watched the Jemma Simmons.  The last time he’d spoken to her, she’d shot him with experimental weaponry.  The taller, dark-skinned man standing beside her Jasper didn’t recognize, but he seemed cheerful enough.  “Hey,” the man greeted.  “I’m Trip.  The Director said you’re a SHIELD agent?”

Jasper nodded.  “Yeah,” he agreed.  “You?”

A shadow passed over Trip’s face.  “Yeah,” he replied.  “I used to be on Agent Garrett’s strike team.”

Wincing, Jasper nodded both Trip and Agent Simmons into the house.  Garrett’s reveal as HYDRA had hurt a lot of people, but no more than all the others Jasper had worked and fought beside who turned out to be lying Nazis.  “Rough,” he said.  “Come on.  I’ll put on the coffee.”

~*~

Jasper didn’t look up from his sudoku puzzle when someone shuffled hesitantly into the bedroom.  That didn’t mean he hadn’t noticed someone was there.  Or who it was.  He might have been healing, but he was still a SHIELD agent to his bones.  Carefully, Jasper didn’t let his hand twitch on his pen, suddenly very sympathetic to all the agents Barton had accidentally shot with his trick arrows.  “Is there something I can help you with, Agent Simmons?” he asked levelly, finally looking up.

Jemma Simmons gave him a nervous smile, her fingers clenching around the coffee mug in her hands.  “Sir.”  She started a little, as if she only just remembered what she was carrying.  She darted forward to carefully put the mug down on the bedside table next to Jasper, before immediately backing up a few steps.  “I fetched you a cup of coffee,” she said brightly, still shifting anxiously.

“Thank you,” Jasper said.  Nick and Phil had naturally taken over Jasper’s kitchen for their discussions, so Jasper was separated from his coffee pot.

“So it occurred to me,” Simmons continued, her smile beginning to look more forced around the edges, “that I never actually apologized for shooting you.  Properly, I mean.  In person.”

With a calm he didn’t quite feel, Jasper settled back in against the headboard of his bed.  “I can assure you, Agent Simmons, that Coulson has already bought me an apology dinner.  As long as you don’t come after me with experimental weaponry again, I’m sure we’ll get on fine,” he said.

Simmons swallowed again.  “Even so, sir.  I’m sorry,” she said.

Jasper let out a breath.  “At least you didn’t kick me off a building.”

Wide-eyed, Simmons just stared at him for a moment.  “Someone really did that?” she breathed.

“It was Agent Romanoff.”  Jasper let his lips twitch up into a smile.  “Someone caught me, but let me tell you, I definitely rank that one in the top five most terrifying experiences of my life.”

“I can see why it would,” Simmons agreed.  She shifted a little, before straightening her shoulders and taking a seat on the corner of Jasper’s bed.  “I feel the same about my time undercover at HYDRA.  It was horrifying, and not just because of what they were doing.  They were just all so… casual about it.  Like they didn’t care.”

Jasper grimaced.  He didn’t begrudge Simmons for wanting to talk about it, but his memories of HYDRA was not a place where Jasper liked to dwell.  “That’s because they don’t,” he said softly.  “To them, human life is a means to an end.”

Simmons shuddered.  Glancing up, she forced a bright smile.  “Anyway, I won’t disturb you any longer,” she said.  “I just wanted to apologize, and I think the Director will be leaving soon, so you’ll have your house back again.”

For a moment, Jasper was confused, still not used to thinking of Phil as the Director.  He nodded to Simmons as she rose to her feet, but instinct made him speak up before she could disappear out the door.  “For what it’s worth, Agent Simmons, that’s why we’ll defeat HYDRA.  Because they don’t care, and we do.”

This time when Simmons smiled, it was far more genuine.  “Thank you,” she said.

Jasper shrugged, his own smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.  “You’re welcome.”

~*~

Nick came back a few hours later.  Jasper was almost done making a pot of his mother’s potato and leek soup, which he’d mostly been cooking as comfort food.  He turned to glance at Nick, who was leaning up against the doorway in his leather jacket.  Nick’s more usual black eyepatch covered his left eye, and Jasper was happy to see the more familiar sight.  It wasn’t quite as good as being trusted enough to see Nick’s scars, but it was a reassuring sight all the same.  Jasper had definitely fallen for the man underneath the legend.  All the same, there would always be something about Nick that made you stand a little bit taller.  Or the danger you were facing seem just a little bit easier to defeat.

“Not jetting off somewhere?” Jasper asked, turning back to his soup.

“No,” Nick replied, walking closer.  “Phil and his team can handle it.”

Jasper felt warmth uncurl in his chest.  “So you’re staying for a bit?” he asked.

“If you’ll have me,” Nick said.

Jasper put the lid on his soup pot and turned off the heat.  “Of course I will,” he said.  “I thought you were supposed to be some sort of superspy?  I’m not exactly hiding my intentions here, Nick.”

Nick laughed, and the sound was enough to stop Jasper in his tracks.  Damn.  Nick was breathtaking when he laughed.  Reaching out, Nick pulled Jasper in.  “I’m not hiding mine, either,” he said, sliding a hand around Jasper’s neck and leaning down for a kiss.

Nick’s lips were warm and still curved into a smile, and Jasper thought it was perfect.  He pushed closer, sliding his hands underneath Nick’s jacket, even as he licked at Nick’s bottom lip.  After wanting from a distance for so long, Jasper wasn’t sure he could stop himself from showing how much he wanted this.  Thankfully, Nick seemed pretty on board with the idea.  He obligingly deepened the kiss as his other hand slid down to Jasper’s ass.

Eventually, Nick pulled away slightly to kiss his way along Jasper’s jaw.  “How determined are you to have dinner right now?” he asked.

Jasper cracked open his eyes, surprised his glasses hadn’t completely fogged up.  Nick was doing his best to drive Jasper out of his damn mind, and now wanted to have a conversation.  “Exactly what kind of date do you think I am?” he asked.

Nick cupped Jasper’s face in his hands.  “An amazing one,” he said sincerely, and Jasper gave up all pretense that he didn’t want exactly this.

“Well, you know where the bedroom is,” he said.

Nick grinned again, and leaned in for another kiss.  “I was thinking about Paris for that expensive date.  You know, if you wanted,” he said as he lead Jasper back to his bed.  “We don’t have to go for a while, but there’s something I need to check out, and I’d really like it if you could come with me, Jasper.”

Jasper narrowed his eyes.  “You want me to go on a mission with you?” he said.  He barely waited for Nick’s nod, because it wasn’t like Jasper needed time to think about his answer.  “On one condition.  We have dinner _first_.  I’m not missing out on Parisian cuisine just because we had to flee the country in a hail of bullets.”

Nick grinned.  “Deal,” he said.

Jasper arched an eyebrow.  “Now, how about doing something about the fact both of us are wearing too many clothes?”

Nick laughed and pulled Jasper with him as he tumbled onto the bed.

~*~

_Epilogue_

“We have a slight problem,” Nick whispered in Jasper’s ear.

Jasper sighed, thinking mournfully of the salted creme caramel he’d seen on the menu.  He’d been looking forward to tasting it.  “I hate HYDRA,” he muttered.  “Seriously.  I should have stayed back at my Home for Wayward SHIELD Agents.”

Nick leaned back enough to see Jasper’s face, amusement reflected in his dark eye.  They were standing close together in the dim shadows of one of Shanghai’s best new restaurants, keeping an eye on the latest senior HYDRA agent they were tracking.  “I promise I’ll make it up to you,” Nick said.

And he would.  Over the course of the last five months, Jasper had learned of Nick’s well hidden hedonistic side.  He loved good food almost much as Jasper did, even though he complained his age meant he couldn’t indulge as much as he wanted.  “I’ll hold you to that,” Jasper muttered.  “Now what do you need me to do?”

“Think you can create a distraction to stop Winslow leaving for five minutes?” Nick asked.  “I need to switch his portable drive for the dummy.”

Jasper snorted.  “Of course I can distract him,” he said.  “The trick is doing it while also not complaining I don’t get to taste that indulgent heaven of a salted caramel dessert.”

Nick smirked.  “You were really looking forward to eating that, weren’t you?”  Leaning forward, he pressed a fast kiss to Jasper’s lips.  “Meet you out the back in six minutes.”

Humming, Jasper nodded, but reached out to grab Nick’s arm before he could slink off into the crowd.  “Hey, Nick?  See if you can’t swipe a creme caramel on the way, would you?”

Nick huffed.  “You want me to pause in my attempts to save the entire planet so you can get dessert?” he said, but the smile tugging at his lips gave the game away.

Jasper narrowed his eyes at him.  “Damn straight,” he replied.  “I thought Nick Fury could do anything?”

Chuckling softly, Nick nodded.  “Yes, dear.”

 

End


End file.
